Human rights groups and victims’ families of the August 2020 explosion at Beirut’s shipping port called for a UN-led international investigation into human rights violations connected to the blast in a statement released on Monday. The joint letter urged member states of the UN Human Rights Council to bring forward a resolution during the current [...]

The New Zealand government passed on Tuesday the first reading of the Sentencing (Reinstating Three Strikes) Amendment Bill in the parliament. Associate justice minister Nicoke McKEE promised a “more workable” regime that avoids unjust outcomes despite concerns from Ministry of Justice officials that the proposed legislation may be inconsistent with international obligations. First introduced by the [...]

Pro-independence protesters have renewed violent demonstrations across New Caledonia after the detention of seven indigenous leaders and activists in mainland France, the High Commission of the Republic in New Caledonia announced on Monday. Protesters set alight the municipal police station in Dumbéa, as well as police and private vehicles in surrounding areas. Firefighters were able to [...]

New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon on Tuesday called proposed nationwide strikes on budget day encouraging Indigenous Māori and non-Māori allies to walk off their jobs in support of Indigenous rights ‘illegal’. Luxon labelled appeals from opposition party Te Pāti Māori for Māori to “stand and rise” up in support of the strike “entirely wrong” [...]

The operator of New Caledonia’s La Tontouta International Airport announced on Sunday that the airport will remain closed until June 2 following the breakout of violent protests in response to the proposed constitutional amendment by France’s National Assembly on May 17. The High Commission of the Republic of New Caledonia also announced the airport’s closure, which [...]

Human rights organization WOLA (the Washington Office on Latin America) on Wednesday issued a statement of solidarity with groups within El Salvador fighting for citizens unjustly detained following the country’s major gang crackdowns in March 2022. In conjunction with 84 other advocacy groups, WOLA criticized the dramatic increases in the surveillance and interference of human [...]

The New Zealand government on Monday introduced the Local Government (Electoral Legislation and Māori Wards and Māori Constituencies) Amendment Bill to reinstate local electorate polls on Māori wards and constituencies, despite the Waitangi Tribunal finding that the proposed legislation breaches the Treaty of Waitangi. The Treaty of Waitangi is one of the country’s founding constitution [...]

The Superior Court of Québec ruled on Wednesday against granting an interlocutory injunction brought by Canada’s McGill University to dismantle a pro-Palestine encampment on its campus. Justice Marc St-Pierre determined in his decision that the encampment’s presence was not sufficiently urgent to warrant an injunction, given the difficult issues of enjoyment of property and freedom [...]

The New Zealand Court of Appeal on Monday unanimously overturned a High Court ruling that blocked a summons order for Minister for Children Karen Chhour to provide evidence before the Waitangi Tribunal under section 6(1)(c) of the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975. The court found that the tribunal has a statutory duty to inquire into [...]